Updated on Aug 27, 12 p.m.

Police has nabbed Nazir Hussain Malek and Velji Makwana alias Vekariya on Aug 26. Further investigation is going on to catch other culprits.

In a shocking incident in Rajkot, a man lost lakhs of his hard-earned and borrowed money to the goons who promised high returns with commission.

Sunil Joshi, a resident of Gopal Nagar in Rajkot, was conned when he wanted to exchange ₹70 lakh he had in the ₹500 denomination with denominations ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, and ₹100 at 7-8% commission from Swaminarayan temple.

As per the complaint filed by Joshi at Karjan police station, he managed to gather ₹35 lakhs on his own by selling a house for ₹20 lakh, ₹10 lakh from an ancestral land, and the remaining ₹20 lakh of his mother’s pension. He borrowed an additional ₹35 lakh from others.

What happened?

It all began when a relative, Brijesh Pandya, called Joshi on July 13 and presented a scheme where a person named Anil Patel would exchange ₹500 denominations with denominations of ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, and ₹100 at 7-8% commission. 

In just three days, desperate Joshi managed to collect ₹70 lakh and informed Pandya about the same.

After that, Anil Patel’s contact details were shared with Abhyasen Maharaj’s telephone number. Patel instructed Joshi to meet him in Vadodara’s Karjan with the money.

Joshi did accordingly and set off for Vadodara along with his brother-in-law Chandresh, and Brijesh Pandya.

When the accused duped Joshi

The trio reached the Por Palace hotel as instructed by Patel. A few moments later, Patel arrived in a car without a number plate along with another car.

He asked to keep the bag in the car and promised to return the exchanged amount after crossing a toll plaza near Vadodara. 

Joshi did as Patel said. Thereafter, Patel, along with two drivers and another person, absconded from the site with ₹70 lakh and never returned.

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